Bottle forming apparatus



P 1953 e. I. ROBERTS 3,401,029

BOTTLE FORMING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 21, 1965 I N VENTOR.

417a (ME y] United States Patent 3,401,029 BOTTLE FORMING APPARATUS George I. Roberts, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Owens- Illinois, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,479 6 Claims. (Cl. 65-260) This invention relates to bottle forming apparatusand particularly to an apparatus for forming bottles having a neck which is bent at an angle to the main portion of the body of the bottle.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bottle forming apparatus for forming bottles having a neck bent at an angle with respect to the axis of the main portion of the body of the bottle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an apparatus which incorporates the conventional LS. machine.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a part sectional partly diagrammatic view of an apparatus embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus embodying the invention is applied to -a conventional Hartford-Empire I.S. machine. Such machines are made up of a plurality of side-by;side sections in a bank or longitudinally aligned spaced apart groups of ware forming mechanism. It is conventional in order to transfer ware from these forming mechanisms to a lehr conveyor traveling alongside the machine to utilize a swinging arm for each individual section, which arm has bottle grasping tongs thereon that grasp the hot bottle and move the bottle to the lehr belt. The arm includes internal mechanism whereby the bottle is held in vertical position during this transfer.

In accordance with the invention, the conventional apparatus is modified so that the bottle grasping tongs grasp the hot deformable bottle B at the bottle receiving station after the mold sections 10 have opened and transfer it to a position overlying the lehr belt 11 with the neck end of the bottle forming an angle with the vertical. At this point, the transfer mechanism holds the bottle momentarily while burners 12 on each side of the neck apply heat to an intermediate portion of the bottle between the neck end and the main portion of the body. This softens the glass causing the the weight of the main portion of the body of the bottle to bend the bottle and thereby form a bottle having a bent neck in the form, for example, of a powder horn.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 1, the bottle grasping mechanism comprises conventional tongs 13 that are pivotally mounted and actuated by -a mechanism on a short tong supporting arm 14. The short arm 14 is, in turn, fixed to a shaft 15 that is journalled in a hollow arm 16. The arm 16 is mounted for swinging movement on an upright 17. Specifically, the arm 16 has a gear 18 thereon and is rotatably mounted on a shaft 19 fixed in the upright 17. A rack 20 is mounted for reciprocating movement in the upright 17 and forms a part of a piston 21 of a piston motor 22 that is used to actuate the rack and thereby swing the arm as shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 between bottle receiving position and bottle delivery position. A sprocket 23 is fixed on the shaft 19 so that as the arm 16 is swung back and forth, the sprocket 23.remains fixed. A second sprocket 24 is fixed on the shaft 15 and a chain 25 is trained over the sprockets 23, 24.

The ratio of the gear teeth of the sprockets 23, 24 is such that the tong supporting arm 14 is in vertical position when it overlies the bottle receiving station as the mold 10 opens and is in a position inclined to the vertical as shown in solid lines when the tongs overlie the 3,401,029 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 ice bottle delivery station or lehr belt 11. Thus, at the bottle delivery station, the tongs 13 will hold the neck end at the desired angle to the vertical.

The tongs 13 are actuated to open and close by a conventional spring loaded piston motor on the tong arm 14. The actuation of the cylinder 22 is also controlled in a conventional manner by valve locks :26, 27 that are controlled by earns 28, 29, 30 on a timing drum 31. The manner in which this is achieved is set forth more .specifically in the patent to Allgeyer 3,066,786, issued Dec. 4, 1962. a

As further shown in FIG. 1, one of the tongs which is nearest the upright 17 when the tongs are in bottle delivery position has an arcuate contacting member 32 thereon which is curved in cross section and extends downwardly to the area which is to be heated. This serves as a support so that the bottle will bend in the heated area rather than the area closely adjacent the tongs and assists in achieving the desired curvature especially when the bottle is being formed in the shape of a powder horn.

I claim: 1. In an apparatus for making bottles with a neck bent with respect to the axis of the main portion of the bottle, the combination comprising means for transferring a bottle from a bottle receiving station wherein the bottle is upright in hot deformable condition to a bottle delivery station,

said means including means for grasping the neck of the bottle and moving it to a position overlying the bottle delivery station in which position the neck is held at an angle to the vertical,

and heating means at the delivery station for heating an area of the bottle beneath the neck to cause the bottle to soften and bend under its own weight at the heated area under the action of gravity so that the neck is at an angle to the main portion of the body of the bottle.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said grasping means includes a contacting member for engaging the neck along a portion of the length thereof.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for transferring said bottle comprises an arm pivoted for swinging in an arc on which said grasping means are supported.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 wherein said arm includes a pair of sprockets mounted in spaced relation to one another on said arm,

one of said sprockets being mounted in fixed relation to the pivotal axis of the arm,

the other of said sprockets being rotatably mounted in said arm,

an endless chain trained over said sprockets,

said bottle grasping means being fixed to the axis of said second sprocket whereby as the arm is swung from one position to another, said second sprocket is rotated to change the angular relation of said bottle grasping means with respect to said arm so that said bottle grasping means when in position at the bottle receiving station grasps the neck of said bottle and when said bottle grasping means is at the delivery station holds the neck of said bottle at an angle to the vertical.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein said bottle grasping means comprises tongs.

6. In an apparatus for making bottles with a neck bent with respect to the axis of the main portion of the bottle, the combination comprising means for transferring a bottle from a bottle receiving station wherein the bottle is upright in hot deformable condition to a bottle delivery station,

said means including an arm pivoted for swinging movement,

means for swinging the arm,

bottle grasping means pivoted on said arm for grasping the neck of a bottle,

means on said arm operatively engaging said grasping means for changing the angular position of the grasping means relative to said arm as the arm is swung from bottle receiving position to bottle delivery position to that the grasping means holds the neck of the bottle an an angle to the vertical at the bottle delivery sation,

heating means at the delivery station for heating an area of the bottle beneath the neck to cause the bottle to soften and bend under its own weight at the heated area under the action of gravity so that the neck is at an angle to the main portion of the body of the bottle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 677,548 7/1901 Loveridge 65-285 X 1,835,579 12/1931 Westin 65-260 X 1,975,051 9/1934- Peiler 65-260 2,634,552 4/1953 Woolling 65260 DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner.

R. L. LINDSAY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOTTLES WITH A NECK BENT WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF THE MAIN PORTION OF THE BOTTLE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING A BOTTLE FROM A BOTTLE RECEIVING STATION WHEREIN THE BOTTLE IS UPRIGHT IN HOT DEFORMABLE CONDITION TO A BOTTLE DELIVERY STATION, SAID MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR GRASPING THE NECK OF THE BOTTLE AND MOVING IT TO A POSITION OVERLYING THE BOTTLE DELIVERY STATION IN WHICH POSITION THE NECK IS HELD AT AN ANGLE TO THE VERTICAL, AND HEATING MEANS AT THE DELIVERY STATION FOR HEATING AND AREA OF THE BOTTLE BENEATH THE NECK TO CAUSE THE BOTTLE TO SOFTEN AND BEND UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT AT THE HEATED AREA UNDER THE ACTION OF GRAVITY SO THAT THE NECK IS AT AN ANGLE TO THE MAIN PORTION OF THE BODY OF THE BOTTLE. 